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What Is Identity as a Service?
Like SaaS, IDaaS is an application delivery model that lets customers employ cloud-based identity management services.
A few years ago, firms with a digitalization-focused IT adoption strategy led the adoption of IDaaS, or cloud-based identity security. Numerous IDaaS solutions use adaptive authentication and cloud computing to enhance or expedite key business operations. Database storage, online processing power, and other IT resources are used at this level of identity and access management (IAM) computing.
How Does IDaaS Work?
When most individuals ask, “What is identity as a service?” they want to know how access management can be outsourced. Through an Application Program Interface (API), IDaaS platforms offer security services for systems, networks, and applications. Everywhere a user has to submit their login information throughout the company’s IT infrastructure, that API gateway displays a consistent login screen.
The identity provider (IdP) receives an authentication request from the API when a user inputs their login information on this page. To confirm the user’s identity and ascertain if they are authorized to access the service they are trying to use, the IDaaS system looks through a user directory that contains access restrictions and permission information.
Following user identification by the system, the API provides the application with a security token that contains details about the user, including which parts of the application the user is permitted to access. The user can access the program with this security token.
Through a dashboard within the identity as a service platform, the IDaaS provider logs all user interactions with the API and creates thorough logs for auditing, reporting, and metrics.
Why is IDaaS Important?
The majority of contemporary companies are at serious risk from identity-related hacks. Businesses have more difficulties in preserving their security perimeter and averting intrusions as their IT stacks continue to expand. In order to assist businesses in lowering these security risks, user access must be restricted. It’s evident that there is a growing demand for IAM technologies given that 84% of businesses had an identity-related data breach in 2021.
IDaaS enables almost any company to have access to those essential identity verification and access control capabilities. These solutions are crucial because they assist businesses in incorporating security elements into a variety of cloud-based and on-premises tools and systems. Businesses can monitor and control user access throughout their whole IT infrastructure with a single cloud-native IAM solution.
In addition to avoiding breaches, identity as a service is crucial in assisting enterprises in meeting the constantly changing criteria for data protection and regulatory compliance. Businesses can easily view use information and keep thorough records using IDaaS, which they may use for internal audits or to provide to regulators and auditors.
What are the examples of IDaaS?
Single Sign-on (SSO)
An authentication solution called single sign-on (SSO) enables a user to access several websites and apps with a single set of login credentials. For instance, Orrstown Bank required an IDaaS solution that could smoothly transfer hundreds of “applicants” into their platform without compromising security when they automated their identity management procedures. They may relieve the burden on their helpdesk and significantly cut down on the time it takes to access their platform by using an SSO solution for their client identification issue.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
By utilizing an organization’s designated MFA solution provider, MFA provides organizations with enhanced security and authentication controls. Microsoft, RSA, and Duo are MFA suppliers who have validated their products for usage with this new architecture. Weight Watchers utilized IDaaS automation to make sure all users were moved to the new server without compromising security when they wanted to migrate their old systems to an online solution and acquire IAM services.
Identity Management
The goal of the cybersecurity specialized field of identity and access management is to guarantee that only the right individuals have access to the correct information and resources at the right times and for the right purposes. Norwich University implemented an identity management tool to streamline the onboarding process and expedite the processing of applications, emails, and other requirements after realizing the inconveniences of manually handling passwords for their online graduate program.
Provisioning
A role-based IAM solution would automatically grant access to employees once they were allocated a role through your system. The employee’s IAM profile is instantly updated or deleted from the active directory if they leave the company or change positions. In a manual system, for instance, a promotion from IT technician to IT manager would present challenges since you would have to simultaneously solve for management access and IT access. By automating this procedure, IDaaS relieves you of the burden and reduces the possibility of user mistake that comes with self-service solutions.
IDaaS vs IAM
When a company queries, “What is IDaaS?” They frequently search for a solution that can help them with their identity and access management (IAM) requirements. IAM SaaS is basically identity management as a service.
IAM is a broad security phrase that encompasses all platforms, rules, procedures, and software used to monitor or manage application activity. Based on preset access rules, IAM solutions maintain comprehensive user IDs and authorization data for those users. One option for handling part or all of a business’s identity-related security requirements is to use a cloud identity as a service platform.
A business must still establish access controls and rules to direct its automation workflows and guarantee data consistency even after it has begun utilizing an IDaaS provider. The company’s IAM strategy includes those policies and controls.
FAQs
What is Identity management?
Identity management guarantees that the appropriate individuals within a company have access to the appropriate resources. These systems leverage access rights to keep unauthorized users from accessing private files or documents and use IDaaS technology to appropriately identify, authenticate, and authorize personnel inside a company. Because cybersecurity threats are always increasing, identity and access management keeps your defenses structured.